The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-02-05


very little respect for the moral law
1t is great thing to know that there
is law and that with its transgression
there is absolute certainty of punish
ment.
To the social condition can be ascrib-
ed blame for these crimes, especially to
what is known as the best society. In
this society, money is recognized as of
paramount interest. Brains and char
acter go for nothing. To have no mon
ey and attempt to move in such Cir
Gle is to be cut by sOulless men and sill
ly women. Therefore, on the young
man who tries to move in this circle,
there is pressure to keep up with its
style and demand. How to get money
for this is to him an anxious question.
If he be intrusted with the money
of others, the temptation to take it be-
comes great. When there is a elbow
OUT" an extra demand is made on him.
Instead Of being able to pay back what
he first took, as he may have intended,
he finds that the social exigencies re-
quire more, and so he keeps on, until
discovery comes, and he is landed in
the penitentiary. While this may not
have been the fact with the cases here,
it is generally true. The real devil is
in the best society, whose sneer those
tempted could not brook. This social
sentiment, that measures everything by
wealth, is one of the conditions that
result in peculations and embezzle-
ments.
Again, the great lack of conscience
in the business world is a crime pro-
ducer. The speaker did not mean that
most business transactions are not con-
Quoted on basis of honesty, but that
in many cases this honesty comes from
policy and not from desire to be honest
for honesty's sake. There is no con-
science. in it. That this is so is proved by
the tendency to cover up crime if the
money be paid back. Some even call this
a merciful sentiment. Not SO, the
purest justice is the purest mercy.
Mercy comes after justice, not before.
A man must be punished until he re-
pent before mercy be exercised. Again
this lack of business conscience is
shown in the want of righteous indig-
nation, when a business man is wrong
ed or cheated. You defraud him. He
is not grieved. He does not have you
punished. He merely swears that next
time he will be even with you. Business
becomes game at which each plays to
win, the tit=for-tat idea being the prin.
ciple that rules. This lack of con-
science is shown in the prevalence of
the gambling spirit, spirit that de-
sires to get something for nothing and
is an immense quantity in human ma
ture. 1t creeps out in all the varied
forms of speculation. The spirit is one
that is fostered and catered to. Those
who guess the nearest to the number
of seeds in pumpkin, get stove. You
take chances on china sets; on new
dresses; are offered free lunch in the
saloon, or given ticket for the church
lottery. In these and varied other ways
is the gambling spirit encouraged.
From the gambler to the thief is but
short step. By catering to this lust for
free getting, one is manufacturing
thieves, embezzlers and sWindlers. An
environment for their development is
furnished.
In conclusion DIR. Crane showed that
to lessen these crimes, the above con-
ditiOns must be remedied. The bold
stand taken by the pastor was fayora
bly, commented on by many after the
service.